EPFO members can avail second Covid advance

In Maharashtra’s Nashik, the district authority has been taking help of local dialects of the tribals to clear apprehensions and to facilitate the COVID-19 vaccination drive. Nashik zilla parishad’s chief executive officer, Leena Bansod said that there have been  certain misconceptions among tribals regarding the vaccination drive. Hence, she said, the district authority has been making use of local dialects of the tribals to create awareness on the benefits of taking the vaccine against COVID-19. Ms. Bansod further said that audio-video clips have been made in these local dialects to create awarenes.

 -Google and Facebook have begun updating their websites to reflect the appointment of the grievance officers under the new social media rules that came into effect recently. According to government sources, large social media companies like Google, Facebook and WhatsApp have shared details with the IT Ministry as per the requirement of the new digital rules, but Twitter is still not following the norms.The new rules require significant social media intermediaries - those with other 50 lakh users - to appoint a grievance officer, nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel are required to be resident in India.Industry sources said Facebook and WhatsApp have already shared their compliance report with the Ministry of Electronics and IT, and that the details of the new grievance officers appointed are being updated to replace the existing information on these platforms..Google's 'Contact Us' page shows details of Joe Grier as a contact person with an address from Mountain View, US. The page also contains details on the grievance redressal mechanism for YouTube. While Twitter website mentions Dharmendra Chatur as the 'Resident Grievance Officer for India (Interim)'. After the new norms came into effect on May 26, the IT Ministry had turned up the heat on significant social media companies, asking them to immediately report compliance and provide details of the three key officials appointed.

-The West Bengal government on Monday evening transferred as many as 52 police officers. Accordingly,DIG, Midnapore Range, Kunal Aggarwal was sent on compulsory waiting, while V Solomon Nesakumar was made the Joint CP of the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police and Prasun Bandyopadhyay the DIG, Barasat Range, an order said. Praveen Kumar Tripathi will be the new DIG Malda Range while DN Goswami, Joint CP Special Branch of Kolkata Police was appointed the DIG of the state STF. Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam replaced Goswami. Niladri Chakraborty would continue as the ADG, state fire services, the order stated, adding that Anoop Jaiswal will be the new DIG, Raiganj Range.Swati Bhangalia was made the DC South-West (Behala) of Kolkata Police while Priyabrata Roy was named the DC ESD of the Force and Arindam Sarkar as DC of Kolkata Armed Police, the order said. Biswajit Ghosh will be the new SP of Jhargram Police District while Dhritiman Sarkar appointed the new SP of Bankura, it added.

-Railways has delivered more than 21 thousand 392 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen to fifteen states across the country. The Railway Ministry said it is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering Liquid Medical Oxygen to various states and so far 392 Oxygen Expresses have rendered the service.The Oxygen Expresses started their deliveries 35 days back on 24th April in Maharashtra. Oxygen Express reached 15 states namely Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam. Railways are picking up oxygen from places like Hapa, Baroda, Mundra in the West and Rourkela, Durgapur, Tatanagar, Angul in the East and then delivering it to various States. The Ministry said, Liquid Medical Oxygen delivery to Haryana and Karnataka crossed two thousand tonnes each.

-To support its subscribers during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, EPFO has now allowed its members to avail second non-refundable COVID-19 advance. The provision for special withdrawal to meet the financial need of members during pandemic was introduced in March 2020, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). An amendment to this effect was made by Ministry of Labour & Employment in Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 by inserting therein sub-para (3) under paragraph 68L, through notification in the Official Gazette. Under this provision, non-refundable withdrawal to the extent of the basic wages and dearness allowances for three months or up to 75% of the amount standing to member’s credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, is provided. Members can apply for lesser amount also.